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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26912692">The Next Incarnation</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orajje/pseuds/Orajje'>Orajje</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>"mom Homura broke the plot again", "this was supposed to be a oneshot", Angst, Crack Treated Seriously, Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reincarnation, Time Travel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:28:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,977</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26912692</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orajje/pseuds/Orajje</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What if... the magical girls of Mitakihara were the reincarnations of those in Tart Magica.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Perspectives.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Madoka wondered.</p><p> </p><p>She wondered why some things were so familiar. The day, oh so long ago, when she had met Sayaka. She had felt like she had met her before. Almost like deja vu. It didn’t happen often, especially after Sayaka got enamored with the idea of knights. </p><p> </p><p>Then she saw Homura.</p><p> </p><p>She could almost feel everything blur. For a moment she thought she almost saw someone else in Homura’s place. Someone with golden eyes. Then it returned to normal. She never brought it up, a weird dream and then a weird hallucination? Homura would think it was weird. <strike> <em> Although, something deeply ingrained within her said that Homura would never abandon her. Not unless she had to. </em>  </strike></p><p> </p><p>When she entered a labyrinth, she almost felt like she had seen things like it before. She almost reached for something. <strike> <em> But what? </em> </strike> But she had the white… thing? In her arms. So she couldn’t grab for anything. Not that there was anything to grab.</p><p> </p><p>When Mami served them tea after saving them from the familiars, Madoka felt like she had been served like this before. Felt like this was normal. Being served by someone so hospitable and polite felt almost familiar. Although she kept on expecting her hair to be blue...</p><p> </p><p>Not to mention Kyoko, who came along to Mitakihara for some reason she wouldn’t say. Who’s semi hostile taunting… well, she honestly almost expected Mami to attack. <strike> <em> Why did she expect that? </em> </strike> Though she almost expected her to wield a weapon similar to Mami, so when she saw her wielding a spear, it almost felt wrong.</p><p> </p><p>It felt like she’d known most of them much longer than she actually had…</p><p> </p><p>Why? Why was there so much deja vu?</p><p> </p><p>She wondered whether she would ever know.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Sayaka loved.</p><p> </p><p>All her life, she wanted to be loved. By her family, by her friends, Anyone really.</p><p> </p><p>Which was why it was odd when she first met Madoka, some part of her felt hostile. She almost felt like an enemy. But that was stupid, she was just another kid! They became good friends, slowly learning to be best friends. <strike> <em> She would never admit it, but some of her jokes of being her wife were a bit more serious than they probably should have been. </em>  </strike></p><p> </p><p>When Madoka gave her that book of knights so long ago. Well, at first she had almost wanted to throw it away. Which was stupid, why did she want to throw away something her friend gave her? When she read it she slowly grew to love as well. Something about them… <strike><em>They made her wonder if she had been a knight, if she had been more focused on protecting instead of killing, She wouldn’t have rejected her. </em></strike>Something about them felt <strike><em>successful.</em></strike> Like they would win. Their justice… she tried to learn to be just. So she could be like a knight from those stories.</p><p> </p><p>Then she saw Homura, and she felt… She couldn’t even fully quantify it. She wanted to destroy Homura. She didn’t trust Homura. Yet she… almost felt respectful of her. She would even admit to thinking of her as gorgeous. <strike> <em> What was with all these conflicting feelings? </em> </strike></p><p> </p><p>Mami and Kyoko also felt familiar in ways she couldn’t fully articulate. </p><p> </p><p>It was odd.</p><p> </p><p>But she kept going.</p><p> </p><p>She kept loving.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Mami wished.</p><p> </p><p>The first time she wished was the day her parents died. The day she almost did too. That wish, the wish to live, was granted! Even if she wished she had included her parents in the wish, There was nothing she could do about that now, except wish she’d made another decision.</p><p> </p><p>That one wasn’t. <strike> <em> Stupid, she should have known better. She should have remembered that they could still have been helped. She lost her mother once already, and almost lost her father. Now she lost two more. </em> </strike></p><p> </p><p>Her loneliness grew, <strike> <em> again, </em> </strike> but she continued. She would fight to protect the innocent! <strike> <em> Like </em> <b> <em>She</em> </b> <em> always had. </em> </strike> She would fight with her guns, the guns she felt would be effective against witches. <strike> <em> The guns were reminiscent of an old friend. </em> </strike> But even still, she wished she had a friend.</p><p> </p><p>The day she met Kyoko, that wish was granted. She was happy! She finally had someone to be with. Although… Almost immediately, she felt strongly about Kyoko. She didn’t quite understand why. Assumed they were because it was another magical girl she could fight with. But… that never really felt quite right. While the red outfit felt familiar, Kyoko’s weapon always seemed… wrong. Like she should've been using the musket’s instead. But that was silly! Kyoko’s spear was her weapon!</p><p> </p><p>The day Kyoko left, she felt something within her break. She couldn’t even figure out why… was she really that attached? </p><p> </p><p>Before the loneliness became too much, the wish was granted again. With two new friends</p><p> </p><p>Madoka… she almost seemed to gravitate towards her. She felt buoyed by her kindness. There were so many emotions… she kept herself in control, She didn’t actually know her, no matter what her brain said.</p><p> </p><p>Sayaka… She almost felt hostile towards Sayaka, but she had no idea why. She hadn’t done anything, even seemed friendly! So she crushed those feelings.</p><p> </p><p>Homura. She didn’t quite understand her. Some part of her, the same part that seemed suspicious of Sayaka, and had a mess of feelings for Madoka, just seemed to feel sad whenever she looked at her. She almost trusted Homura. Although, she wasn’t sure why Homura seemed so determined to keep the others from contracting. <strike> <em> She should trust her, she obviously knows, knows the fates of all magical girls. </em> </strike></p><p> </p><p>Mami continued wishing.</p><p> </p><p>Wishing that she would be surrounded by <strike><em> her </em></strike> friends.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Kyoko fought.</p><p> </p><p>She fought for food when her family was hungry, stealing a little to try to get by.</p><p> </p><p>She fought witches for her wish. Her wish to help her family. <strike> <em> Her rather familiar wish. </em> </strike></p><p> </p><p>When she met Mami, she fought with her. The girl she always… felt happy around. It almost felt like being around her reminded her of happier times. But that was stupid, she’d never been in a situation like this before. Her mind was just being stupid. Although her hands always twitched to grab the muskets whenever they came near. Like her hands were more used to guns then spears.</p><p> </p><p>When her father killed her family, she fought to survive. She wouldn’t let herself die for some morals. She wouldn’t die unless the world crushed her itself. <strike> <em> She had promised to live after all. </em> </strike></p><p> </p><p>When she met Mami again, it was with two potentials. They… almost felt familiar. </p><p> </p><p>Blueberry… she felt ready to fight her if she tried to attack her… why was she so naturally hostile towards a non magical girl? Blueberry’s naive justice talk annoyed her sure, but that didn’t quite feel like the whole explanation</p><p> </p><p>Pinkie on the other hand… she felt a tenuous respect for…? What the fuck? The girl was a shrinking goddamn violet, even if she had a metric fuckton of potential. </p><p> </p><p>Then she saw the other magical girl in Mitakihara. Homura Akemi. <strike> ...Riz? </strike> The girl went around, teleporting around like some sort of goddamn motherfucking shit! Why the hell was it so familiar?! Was this the girl that had been fucking around in her territory!? Whatever. She couldn’t figure out why she respected herself so much. No matter how much she thought about it.</p><p> </p><p>So she would continue fighting.</p><p> </p><p>Fighting to figure out whatever the hell was going on.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Oriko saw.</p><p> </p><p>She saw everything, she saw how things would go. </p><p> </p><p>And she saw the past. Her past. The history of her previous incarnation.</p><p> </p><p>She saw Minou, and she saw the End.</p><p> </p><p>Minou- her previous incarnation, was a monster. A monster who killed her own sister for not being devoted enough to an abomination. A monster who burned a saint for the sin of killing an abomination that would have destroyed the world. <strike> <em> What kind of monster did that make her, if that was her last life? </em> </strike></p><p> </p><p>She saw as she lost, over and over, past and future.</p><p> </p><p>She saw as the human race was wiped out by a powerful witch.</p><p> </p><p>She saw everything disappear.</p><p> </p><p>She knew, she couldn’t let the world burn. For her father's memory if nothing else. <strike> <em> Was she really so different from the girl who fought for her mother? </em> </strike> But she hesitated.</p><p> </p><p>Her first thought had just been to kill the source of the witch.</p><p> </p><p>Kill the likely innocent girl who probably hadn’t done anything wrong.</p><p> </p><p>… If she just killed and used everyone around her…</p><p> </p><p>Would she be any different then Minou?</p><p> </p><p>Oriko saw.</p><p> </p><p>And she used her sight to reject her fate.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Homura remembered.</p><p> </p><p>She remembered the past timelines of course. The countless repetitions. <em> <strike> The countless deaths. </strike> </em></p><p> </p><p>But she also remembered being Riz.</p><p> </p><p>At first she hadn’t. Back in the very first timeline, when she found herself drawn to Madoka. She hadn’t known about any of it. Even when she felt her cheeks warm when being near madoka, she thought it was just a part of normal friendship. Not like she had had many examples.</p><p> </p><p>But then she went back. Determined to keep Madoka from dying.</p><p> </p><p>And she remembered. A little.</p><p> </p><p>It was only a small amount of blurry memory fragments at first. But every time she went back they became clearer. More and more memories came through.</p><p> </p><p>By timeline ten she remembered the most important things.</p><p> </p><p>By timeline twenty she remembered everything.</p><p> </p><p>She wondered whether Pernelle was still alive somewhere.</p><p> </p><p>Not that it mattered. All that mattered was keeping <em> <strike> Tart- </strike> </em> Madoka alive and safe. Mami and Kyoko, <em> <strike> Melissa and Elise, </strike> </em> were already contracted. She couldn’t save them from anything other than possibly their immediate fates.</p><p> </p><p>Sayaka was… well, she tried not to think about her. The girl was a complicated subject for her emotionally before she figured out she was Corbeau’s reincarnation.</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, figuring it out was easy after a while. Their souls… still felt similar. Even now that they were reincarnated.</p><p> </p><p>She kept fighting, time after time. Before she decided to test something.</p><p> </p><p>She tried to use her old shadows.</p><p> </p><p>She succeeded.</p><p> </p><p>She wasn’t as skilled with them as Riz was. But she remembered enough about how to use them to replicate them. Although it took her a long time for them to be truly combat effective.</p><p> </p><p>But, with the new skill in her arsenal, she was that much closer to saving Madoka.</p><p> </p><p>Yet she still failed.</p><p> </p><p>Over and over.</p><p> </p><p>Till she wondered about something.</p><p> </p><p>A technique she had never used.</p><p> </p><p>One day, in a timeline that had just started. She opened the gates.</p><p> </p><p>Out came Lapin, as young as she had been the day she fell in, hugging her old body and sleeping, before she woke up, saw her, and ran over to her-</p><p> </p><p>And hugged her legs… sobbing uncontrollably.</p><p> </p><p>… Things were about to get complicated weren’t they.</p><p> </p><p>Homura remembered everything, and used that knowledge to reconstruct causality.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Homura Breaks The Plot</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Homura… didn’t quite know how to interact with others, she would admit that. But now she had a 600 year old, probably insane child holding her legs and crying like this was all going to disappear.</p><p> </p><p>She awkwardly tried to rub Lapin’s back with her right hand, in an attempt to replicate some of the things Madoka had done for her in past timelines. It… seemed to work? Lapin leaned into the touch. </p><p> </p><p>It was almost disturbing.</p><p> </p><p>When Lapin finally looked up at her, she seemed shocked, then realization crossed her face. Homura prepared to have to fight her. But instead of attacking, Lapin just seemed <em> terrified </em> , and started sobbing worse. “P-please, don’t put me back in there! Please! Not again! I’ll do anything!” the girl <em> begged, </em>tears falling down her face.</p><p> </p><p>… well, Homura guessed 600 years of solitary confinement would do that to someone. Although she hadn’t really practiced her french, she remembered it enough that it wasn’t too hard to reply. “... I won’t, alright? You will never have to go back in there.” Since Minou was out of the way she wasn't even lying, if Lapin did anything, she would just shatter her soul gem. It was more merciful than putting her back through the doors anyways.</p><p> </p><p>Although considering Lapin only clung to her legs and sobbed harder at that… Well, guess she knew what she was doing for a while.</p><p> </p><p>By the time Lapin finally tired herself out and fell asleep, Homura had already sat down a while ago in an attempt to save her energy. She sighed in relief, till Lapin’s transformation ended. Revealing the girl was wearing no other clothes… Homura looked at Riz's body, which she had been using a small amount of magic to continue preserving while figuring out what to do. The body which she was only noticing was also naked.</p><p> </p><p>… She probably should have expected the non magical clothes would have decayed or been destroyed a long time ago.</p><p> </p><p>Sighing again, she quickly put the body in her shield. If nothing else, it was an easy to use backup body that was… relatively similar to her own.</p><p> </p><p>Not to mention she wasn’t sure getting rid of it was a good idea depending on how much Lapin had latched onto it.</p><p> </p><p>She also got out some of her spare clothes from her shield and dressed Lapin, for her own sake at least. Once she was done, she lifted Lapin, and brought her to her house.</p><p> </p><p>As she went, she felt how much of a headache this was going to be already. Lapin was going to need new clothes, possibly food, and seemed desperate for physical interaction. Not to mention, the girl was practically insane before she went in. Now her mental state was likely… a lot worse. But she needed allies, and this one, while already unstable… if she could at the very least be aimed to protect Sayaka from the Incubator since she was Corbeau’s reincarnation… Well, with Sayaka taken care of, she might be able to succeed. Maybe. She didn’t dare rely on this. Lapin was a known variable in new circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>Not a particularly safe variable either.</p><p> </p><p>If she did succeed in making her an ally though… a nigh immortal magical girl. A magical girl that could revert to a magical girl after witching. Would be an immensely helpful ally.</p><p> </p><p>--- </p><p> </p><p>It took her a while to get everything, at least for her. She was using her magic to get to places as fast as possible so that she would get back before Lapin woke up. So for everyone else on the planet it didn’t take very long. </p><p> </p><p>Unfortunately she had to guess Lapin’s sizes, so she would likely have to come back later when Lapin was awake. But she had plenty of money from her yakuza raids, so the only problem was time.</p><p> </p><p>She made sure to buy some soup on the way back, she knew from a couple of timelines where she had really lost focus on anything other than saving Madoka that attempting to eat solid things after a long period of starving was… a bad idea. </p><p> </p><p>When she did get back, Lapin was still asleep. Homura quickly started making the soup, and once it just had to cook she moved over to her desk. She’d managed to get her hands on pipe bomb materials, so she began putting them together until the soup was almost done and she was at a safe stopping point. Which is also when she noticed Lapin waking up. Likely because of the unfamiliar smells and her long since empty stomach.</p><p> </p><p>She quickly got the soup and poured it into bowls and brought it over to the main table. When Lapin opened her eye’s, she seemed to panic for a moment. The surroundings caused her to freak out. Homura quickly realized that perhaps bringing someone who had just been in a featureless void for a long time into a similar place was a bad idea, and remotely shut off the hologram projectors before Lapin could really start hyperventilating. “I apologize for that.” she said, french rusty on her tongue. “I use… illusions to remove distractions and organize information. Now get up and have some food, I can only imagine it's been a long time since you last ate.”</p><p> </p><p>Lapin seemed to calm down somewhat at that, even if she still seemed scared. Quickly clambering up to the chair and sitting down, really just fitting the appearance of a rabbit her costume gave her. She looked shocked at there actually being food in front of her, and grabbed the bowl, likely to quickly eat it, before her hand quickly caught lapins. Her eyes opened wide, as she practically froze like a deer in headlights… </p><p> </p><p>It felt… distasteful to inflict such fear on someone who was effectively a child, especially when she hadn’t even been the one to cause it in the first place. But she couldn’t exactly do anything about it other than gain the girls trust. She tried to soften her stoic expression, but probably failed considering Lapin still looked like a deer in headlights, as she said. “If you eat too fast you won’t be able to keep it down, eat slowly with a spoon alright.” Lapin nervously nodded as she put down the bowl and slowly began eating. After the first bite, she was obviously trying to hold herself back from just eating the whole thing in one go. Although she visibly became happier with every bite.</p><p> </p><p>When they were down eating, Homura looked at Lapin. Who began fidgeting again under her gaze. Before she asked something “... where is Minou…?” </p><p> </p><p>Homura contemplated lying, but giving Lapin false hope could break her later. “Last I checked, she died several hundred years ago after Isabeau was defeated.” Lapin teared up, likely about to start crying again. “... But, if you have noticed, I’m not quite dead.” Lapin flinched at the reminder. “I am not quite Riz, not anymore. You could say she was my past life… But what this means is that certain others also reincarnated, even if they don’t remember.” Lapin’s eyes filled with shock and hope from her words. “While I don’t know who Minou currently is, or even if she did reincarnate in the first place. I do know who Corbeau is.” Lapin teared up again, although this time it seemed to be from… happiness? </p><p> </p><p>As she began crying, she replied. “R-really? Can you take me to her?! Please?!” </p><p> </p><p>Homura thought for a moment before replying. “As I said, she won’t remember you, not consciously at least. So if you just act the same as you used to with her she won’t understand why. But I can help you meet her, I’ll just need your help with something”</p><p> </p><p>Lapin didn’t even hesitate. “Anything! I just want to see my sister again! Even if she looks different and doesn’t r-remember!?” Her expression was fierce, even with the tears.</p><p> </p><p>Homura nodded. “I will need your help protecting her reincarnation, and her best friend Madoka from the Incubator.” Before Lapin could ask, she quickly continued. “The Incubator is the being that normally makes magical girls. A being without emotion that trades wishes for our lives. If She contracts… well, you will be left alone again when she dies.” It felt a little wrong to so blatantly use this girl's emotions, but if she didn’t, without direction, who knew how dangerous she would be.</p><p> </p><p>The girl looked outraged, but before she could get up and attempt to go Incubator hunting, Homura continued. “While I would love to just kill it and get it over with, it has countless bodies, and will just replace any you destroy. So that's not an option.”</p><p> </p><p>Lapin looked defeated at that. But also determined, like it didn’t matter if her opponent would keep coming back if she could protect her “sister”</p><p> </p><p>But before anything else… “For now, you need to prepare and clean yourself up. I got you some clothes I think may fit you, and the bathroom is over there.” Lapin got up, picking up the clothes she laid out for her, and then she stopped. She looked embarrassed, and scared.</p><p> </p><p>“I-I always had my sisters to help me… and it's been so long…” oh. Her automatic response was to say no. But now that she thought about it Lapin wouldn’t even be able to read the containers. </p><p> </p><p>She sighed, and quickly got up. “Come on then.” she said, mildly exasperated. Lapin seemed shocked and scared, but also weirdly excited, Even if it was mostly buried by the other two.</p><p> </p><p>Once she actually began washing her… Lapin seemed to practically melt. Likely caught up in memories of happier times. She just continued washing, hoping this wouldn’t become a common occurrence. When she was done, Lapin slowly put on the new clothes, which seemed to in fact be about the right size.</p><p> </p><p>However, it was late by then. So she quickly got out bedding for Lapin. “It’s time to sleep.” She stated emotionlessly. Lapin seemed to flinch again, and followed her to her bedroom. She… really didn’t like it. But at least Lapin seemed too loyal to Corbeau to kill the person who would reintroduce her. Then she noticed how much the girl was fidgeting.</p><p> </p><p>She remembered how Lapin had come out of the gate holding her old body…</p><p> </p><p>Oh.</p><p> </p><p>Goddammit.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you going to be alright if you are alone in a bed?” considering how much Lapins eyes widened in shock and fear, that was a no. she sighed. The only two options were to either allow Lapin into her bed to use her as, effectively, a teddy bear, or she could give her Riz’s body as one. Which was a terrible idea for several reasons. Not even mentioning the fact that sleeping in the same room as her past selves preserved naked body was not something she wanted to do. Neither was figuring out clothes to put on it. </p><p> </p><p>The things she did for Madoka. This was just another. When she invited Lapin into her own bed, and quickly got a cuddly torpedo latched onto her, she immediately regretted it. Oh well.</p><p> </p><p>As Homura went to sleep with the touch starved girl. She wondered how much more complicated things would get this timeline.</p><p> </p><p>The likely option was far more than she would like.</p><p> </p><p>Goddammit.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>dammit Homura.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Homura Breaks The Plot 2: Electric Boogaloo</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I should not be allowed to think things through, because now Homura is going to break more plot.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Beta'd by Potato</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Oriko began planning. Her visions hadn’t shown her much yet, but thankfully Kirika was going off to get grief seeds for her.</p><p>Kirika… was similar to both of her old sisters… she wondered whether she was also a reincarnation, and if so, of which one. If she ever found out for sure, she would have to apologize. Even if Kirika never understood why.</p><p>Kirika’s devotion… she couldn’t betray it. That still left her with the problem of allies though.</p><p>Thankfully, she was pretty sure she had seen someone who would help in her visions. It was hard to see anything through the shadow’s in those visions, but she saw eyes in those shadows.</p><p>Sometimes the eyes were purple, sometimes they were gold.</p><p>She had the distinct impression she wasn’t the only one who remembered.</p><p>If it was Riz though… she would have to be very careful. Riz had been a fearsome opponent, and if she still had her shadows… along with whatever magic she had gained from becoming a magical girl again… She couldn’t afford to make the girl her enemy.</p><p>Riz had managed to defeat an immortal opponent herself, and had used the last of her power to allow Tart to do the same. </p><p>She would be an excellent ally, assuming she didn’t try to kill her on sight.</p><p>She sighed, alone in her mansion like this, it was so easy to think it wouldn’t work out.</p><p>If she was going to be better though, she would have to do her utmost to be trustworthy.</p><p>Hopefully that would be enough.</p><p>---</p><p>
  <em> Everything was dark. The eternal void she was trapped in preventing her from seeing her sister. From interacting with anyone. Forever and ever and ever and ever.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> She was so hungry and thirsty. She felt herself turn into a witch so many times. Just to recharge her magic. Just to keep her alive. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Someone would come eventually… right? Minou would save her? </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Please? </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Somebody? </em>
</p><p>
  <em> anybody…? </em>
</p><p>
  <em> please…? </em>
</p><p>
  <em> All she had was the girl who put her in here. Long dead. All she could do was hold it. Preserve it. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> … wasn’t somebody coming…? </em>
</p><p>
  <em> As eternity stretched on, she wondered whether she had been abandoned…  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Abandoned and forgotten… </em>
</p><p>
  <em> No </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Nonononononononono </em>
</p><p>
  <em>PLEASE NO?! ANYONE!? PLEASE?! GET HER OUT- </em>
</p><p>She woke up, tears in her eyes.</p><p>She stared at the back of ‘kinda Riz’ from where her face was buried in it, and felt the blanket over her. The bed under her.</p><p>She was…</p><p>Right.</p><p>She was free.</p><p>She was finally free!</p><p>She would never have to go back!</p><p>All thanks to… 'Riz'.</p><p>The girl who put her there in the first place.</p><p>… The girl who would show her to Corbeau.</p><p>The girl who had been willing to help her bathe, and help her sleep.</p><p>Her old enemy was helping her.</p><p>… being able to touch someone again… even if it was 'Riz'… She loved it.</p><p>It almost hurt, she loved it so much.</p><p>She wondered whether Corbeau would forgive her for her failure… Her failure to truly get revenge, and her failure to fight against the person who finally got her out of that <b> <em>Hell</em> </b>.</p><p>As 'Riz' moved, Lapin realized she had been crying into her back.</p><p>'Riz' woke up, and quickly moved. Flinging her off. Oh no… had she messed up? Was she going to be thrown back? No. nononononononono. </p><p>Before she could say anything, 'Riz' seemed to notice it was her and… calmed down? “... I… apologize. I am not used to physical interaction, let alone waking up to others in my bed.” She tried to tone down the panic… but it was so hard. It was so hard to think- Suddenly she was being hugged. She could feel 'Riz’s' hand rubbing her back as she said to match her breathing.</p><p>After focusing on those two things, she calmed down.</p><p>She looked up at 'Riz'.</p><p>… She wasn’t sure she would be able to bear losing this. She couldn’t take losing someone who gave her all the things she’d missed.</p><p>“Thank you Riz!” She exclaimed. She had… so many emotions about 'Riz'. many of them were conflicting. But she would stick with her for now. Although 'Riz' seemed to narrow her eyes for a moment.</p><p>“I forgot to tell you… my names not Riz anymore. My name is Homura Akemi.”</p><p>… Homura Akemi…</p><p>“Now, let's go have some breakfast.” Homura continued.</p><p>“Yes please!” She was still very hungry, and thirsty.</p><p>She immediately ran to the table, Homura following behind her.</p><p>---</p><p>Waking up with someone wrapped around her was… odd. It had been a long time since she had had this much physical interaction with someone. Let alone someone who was crying into her back when she woke up.</p><p>It was… really difficult trying to comfort someone. She thanked everything she remembered when Riz had needed to comfort others or when Madoka comforted her.</p><p>Although… Lapin needing to know her current name reminded her.</p><p>She had never actually tried to take control of another body.</p><p>She’d never even let herself be unconnected from her own.</p><p>So currently if she ended up in a situation where her normal body was too damaged to continue, Homura would have to rely on faith that it would work.</p><p>Unacceptable.</p><p>She would have to test it after… getting several things done really.</p><p>First, going shopping again with Lapin in tow so she can get more clothes for her, more soup till Lapin got used to food again, and some clothes for… Riz’s body.</p><p>She sighed. At least the soup she was eating was alright.</p><p>---</p><p>It had been difficult to get everything due to having to measure her old body, but she was finally back home. Although Lapin seemed to be disappointed about being back home. Even if she couldn’t understand the other people, she had been ecstatic to be in crowds. Even if she also seemed to have some… problems with them that had required staying outside the crowds as much as possible.</p><p>Well, first things first. She pulled out her old body, while putting it in stasis, and put some of the new clothes on it. Causing Lapin to look at her confused. After that, she laid it down on the ground, and then laid down beside it herself. “Lapin, I am going to try switching to my old body.” Lapin stiffened. “I will need you to preserve mine while I do so, as healing the brain damage would be annoying.”</p><p>Lapin seemed nervous, but she nodded.</p><p>So Homura braced herself, put her soul gem into her old body's hand, and tried to take control of it, closing her eyes in concentration.</p><p>Everything felt odd for a moment, and suddenly everything was subtly different. She opened her eyes.</p><p>It was odd using this body again. She slowly got up, and moved about to test this body. Throwing some punches and kicks as tests. It took her a few minutes before she was satisfied, before she turned back around to Lapin and her body. The body that didn’t have a stasis field over it. “Lapin, why did you ignore me?” She flinched at her tone.</p><p>“Um, the body was breathing so I thought it wasn’t necessary?” Lapin replied, with a scared look in her eyes.</p><p>…</p><p>Wait, what...?</p><p>She looked at her body. Her… breathing… body…</p><p>“WHAT THE!?” She yelled, confusion running through her system. This shouldn’t be- the body moved.</p><p>Homura’s body opened its eyes, and looked at her.</p><p><em> What was happening this shouldn’t be happening that was her empty body- </em> Then it tried to get up, only to trip over its own leg and fall face first into her floor.</p><p>… What?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Stop breaking things Homura I stg.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. More Chaos</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> … where was she…? </em>
</p><p>
  <em> she felt like she was waking up from a very, very long rest. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> the last thing she remembered was… falling unconscious for her surgery. Then she couldn’t remember anything. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> anything other than countless dreams. The countless memories. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> … who was she? </em>
</p><p>
  <em> she remembered being Homura Akemi, but she could also remember being Riz Hawkwood. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> who did that make her? </em>
</p><p>
  <em> then she realized she wasn’t alone. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> there were so many others, and all of them felt like her.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> she could hear their voices, as they all tried to get used to this… rather stuffed space. none of them could get away, they were all stuck in… was this their mind? </em>
</p><p>“WHAT THE!?” <em> … that hadn’t been from them. so they must have heard it. which meant they had a body. </em></p><p>
  <em> if they did… then maybe she could try moving it?  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> she was a little surprised when it actually worked. all of them were quiet for a moment as they looked at the room with their now open eyes. it was an unfamiliar living room, with two people in front of her. two impossible people. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Lapin and… herself. Riz. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> although this “Riz” had her purple eyes. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> she tried to get up, but this was less successful. now the other “hers” were trying to move to, and they ended up falling face first. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> … ow… </em>
</p><p>
  <em> she yelled at the others. “I’ll figure this out alright. So please let me move us for now." thankfully that seemed to help, and she was able to stand up. she could feel the others unconsciously working against her though, she would have to do this quickly. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> after this, she could begin untangling who she was. </em>
</p><p>---</p><p>Homura watched as her body stood up. She quickly suppressed the part of her that was panicking due to this unexpected event. It wouldn't help her.</p><p>She sensed for magic, but couldn't find anything. At least nothing but a small supernova of potential, that seemed… weird. It was unimaginably hard to word how it felt.</p><p>Then she(?) spoke. "... Hello? I'm Homura Akemi… where am I? How did I get here? And… why are you and Lapin both here?"</p><p>… wait.</p><p>Oh.</p><p>
  <b> <em>Oh.</em> </b>
</p><p>She'd never really questioned her time travel. She'd known it wasn't physical because her body was always reverted. But… it was purely soul level wasn't it. Her soul gem was the only part that mattered, and since it was outside her body… she never replaced the other "her". Meaning she was always there in the background, if probably unconscious. To make things worse, she had seemingly been brought along, slowly regaining her memories of Riz. Possibly adding another every time considering her limbs almost seemed to be resisting movement.</p><p>So she attempted to explain things to… herself. This was so strange. Thankfully, they were capable of being quiet while she talked. But it did confirm that the other her remembered, which was… a problem. She couldn't imagine what it would have felt like to suddenly wake up with all of Riz's memories. Let alone a bunch of other copies of herself sharing her body.</p><p>Fortunately, afterwards it was relatively easy to set up a gaming console for Lapin, and teach her how to play. Then letting the other her just mindlessly watch as she figured out who she was now.</p><p>Now, she had something she had to check. </p><p>She quickly ran off to check Mikuni.</p><p>Mikuni was an element she had to check on every timeline. The exact time she contracted varies, sometimes earlier, sometimes later, but today was a common one. So she used her shadows to get close undetected. Even if she was contracted… there had been a handful of timelines where she had, but hadn't seen Madoka's witch. So she would be careful, and wouldn't exact judgement on someone who hadn't done anything wrong yet.</p><p>She found Mikuni in the garden, soul gem already on her finger. Kure sat across from her, happily jumping between conversations. She listened in, and at first didn't hear anything incriminating. Then Kure jumped to another topic. "So we have to keep some random girl from contracting right?" … well, that made things easier-</p><p>"Yes, but we have to be careful. We can't kill someone who hasn't done anything wrong, and the incubator will try it's hardest to contract her." … wait, what? "We could use help though, but the only person who I know about from my visions who might help… is cloaked in shadows. I cannot track her."</p><p>Was Mikuni talking about her at the end there?</p><p>Did they have the same goal now?</p><p>Was Mikuni stable in this timeline?</p><p>… could she be an ally?</p><p>… if Mikuni could… Homura couldn’t afford turning her down.</p><p>No matter how much she hated her.</p><p>She quickly squashed the part of her that wanted to just shatter their gems, and stepped out of the shadows. "Were you referring to me?"</p><p>When Mikuni looked back, she looked genuinely surprised, then her normal knowing look returned. "Well hello there Riz, would you like to join us?"</p><p><em> How did she- </em> she quickly felt for Mikuni's magic, and she recognized part of it. Why hadn't she tried to feel it a bit more closely in the past? What had changed to cause this?</p><p>As she looked into the eyes of Minou's reincarnation, she realized she couldn't leave. If she fully remembered she would be able to do unimaginable amounts of destruction this time. Not to mention she would be able to negate her attacks even from timestop.</p><p>So she sat down at the other seat, across from her mortal enemy and her lacky, and prepared herself for anything.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. A Meeting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Homura and Oriko have a discussion.</p><p>Homura doesn't appreciate it.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>sorry, muse is a random force of chaos</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Oriko watched as Riz walked over and sat down, eyes changing from gold to purple as she deactivated her magic. It was… odd. The girl was wearing a new costume, with similarities to her old one. The white shirt leading up to a black collar, leaving her navel exposed. A black skirt, knee high tights ending in purple diamonds, cut off black sleeves on the girls arms, and a pair of black heels on her feet. The cape on the Riz’s shoulders was grey on the top, and <em> deeply </em> black on the bottom, like it was absorbing all the light that hit it, and making it almost look like a hole in existence, its edges almost seeming to flow and move on their own, and a purple ribbon with a golden emblem tying it off in the center. Not to mention that… she had her old body. Even as what appeared to be a buckler decorated her arm.</p><p>She wondered whether this was a result of this incarnation of Riz's wish, or whether the girl had just remembered, and accepted it, and this was the result.</p><p>She wondered what would trigger that, for a moment, she wondered whether Riz had opened the gate, but even if she had… best not think about it, quickly focusing on the girl. The girl who obviously didn’t trust her if the narrowed eyes were any indication. Not that she could blame her if she remembered and had guessed who she used to be.</p><p>“I am Oriko Mikuni, although you probably know my previous name of Minou better. The girl to my right is Kirika Kure, and I would like to secure your cooperation in saving the world.” </p><p>Riz seemed to narrow her eyes further before she responded. “You already know my name.” Oriko cringed a bit at that. if that response was any indication, she was going to have to do everything in her power to win her trust. She hadn't expected much better, but either the girl didn’t remember her name in this time due to whatever her wish was, or she didn’t want to give away <em> anything </em> that could possibly be an advantage.</p><p>She sipped her tea, thinking about how to start. What kind of olive branch might help this situation? “I’ll admit, i'm not sure exactly how they’re doing it, but your shadows have obscured my vision of the future. Not completely, but it is incredibly hard to glean anything out of times you appear. But there is a witch that will come into existence soon, if she is born, it will be the end of the world. I want to prevent that, and keep the Incubator from contracting with her.” She hoped the knowledge of her powers, and that Riz was a blind spot, was a good start.</p><p>The response was quick. “How do I know you aren’t planning to bring about its end? I thought that was your entire plan?”</p><p>Oriko cringed as she held her hand out to stop Kirika from responding for her. “... I will admit, that was basically what my previous self had planned. But, I am not Minou. Not anymore,” She bowed, keeping her eyes down. “and I apologize for her- for <em> my </em> actions.” </p><p>She waited, she wasn’t expecting much, but hopefully this would show how sincere she was. The wait seemed to stretch on, but she kept bowing. She needed this to work. Riz would likely destroy her plans at best if this didn’t work. She couldn’t afford having this girl as a wildcard, or an enemy. Without Riz’s cooperation, she was doomed for failure. <strike>It would also be a step towards atonement.</strike></p><p>---</p><p>Homura watched the bowing form of her mortal enemy. The girl who had killed the one she was devoted to, not once, but twice. Out of all her enemies, Minou and Mikuni were always two of her most hated ones. Corbeau had been oddly personal, to the point that she sometimes wondered if she was trying to fight or flirt, Walpurgisnacht had always been closer to a force of nature, the Incubator had always been completely emotionless and impersonal, if very manipulative, even Isabeau had been completely impersonal, more a force of destruction than a person by the time she met her. But those two… they had specifically targeted the person she cared about.</p><p>She honestly hated them, their actions had hurt those she cared about unapologetically, and now she knew they were the same person, at least to a degree. But… Mikuni was <em> still </em> bowing, an apology, an atonement.</p><p>… Their skills would be handy, both Mikuni’s and Kure’s… She glanced at her shield… Fine.</p><p>“Raise your head, I'm not going to forgive you, not yet, possibly never.” Mikuni looked up at her, looking worried, while Kure looked ready to eviscerate her. ”But I will give you <em> one </em> chance, but you are on thin ice. <em> Very thin ice </em>. Got it?” </p><p>Mikuni actually had a small smile appear on her face at that, it was mildly disturbing. Having former enemies working with her, seeming to be happy about working with her… it was unnerving. The irony was honestly shocking, her friends had slowly drifted away from her over the loops and now her enemies were working <em> with </em> her. “I understand. I wasn’t expecting forgiveness, I thank you for the chance though.” Kure just seemed to calm down immediately once it became clear Mikuni had been expecting something like this, even if she still seemed ready to fight her over Mikuni’s honor. “I’ll try my hardest to prove myself to you. Now I will give you all the info I’ve managed to gather-”</p><p>Homura cut her off. “I already know, the girl is Madoka Kaname, and she goes to Mitakihara middle school.” Mikuni seemed like she’d had the wind completely taken out of her sails, but nodded.</p><p>Mikuni’s next explanations were <em> much </em> more interesting. Plans and info she’d been gathering from around Mitakihara since most of her visions within it were worthless. Not to mention that Kure was willing to do a lot of hard jobs. </p><p>… Homura cringed internally as she thought about whether she should tell her new allies about her… <em> new addition</em>. Not the other version of her, not for now at least, but Lapin was… a conundrum. Trying to keep it a secret from both of them was bound to backfire, but having Lapin back within Mikuni’s influence, within <em> Minou’s </em>…</p><p>She would think about it later, when she isn’t so close to the source of her confusion. This timeline was already massively off track compared to normal timelines, so she’d have to spend some time alone to process all of this, and figure out what to do.</p><p>For now though, she would exchange less dangerous info like phone numbers, and listen <em> closely </em>.</p><p>---</p><p>When Riz left, she said, “I will be watching. We will meet later” and disappeared into the shadows, her eyes flashing gold. Oriko felt around the area with her magic to check if Riz had actually left, or was watching, and as soon as she was sure she confirmed the former, she relaxed back into her seat. Kirika immediately asked if she needed anything.</p><p>“I’m fine Kirika, just… exhausted. Could you get some more tea?” she responded.</p><p>Kirika lit up. “Alright! I’ll be back soon!” Then ran off to do so. Oriko just let herself breathe. She was both elated, and honestly a little in shock. Riz honestly terrified her, she’d looked into the possible future’s where she had attempted to kill Madoka Kaname, and all of them had been completely covered in shadows, right before she heard a bullet fire.</p><p>She had no doubt that Riz would kill her if she attempted anything. Which she felt almost <em> relieved </em> about. She was sure Kirika thought she could do no wrong, that she was perfect, but she knew how tempting it was for her to do something… Horrible. She was far too likely to do something ‘for the greater good’, something that hurts others because she believed she was right. Which was why she <em> needed </em> Riz. Someone who wouldn’t tolerate her being a monster, because even if Riz herself had always been pragmatic, she’d been a good person, and she seemed to be one now. </p><p>Not to mention that the girl obviously didn’t trust her, but was <em> willing to listen </em>. She honestly had expected less. </p><p>Kirika came back, she drank the tea, allowing her nerves to calm while Kirika talked. Giving herself a chance to not think about the job she had to accomplish. But after a while she had to get back to work. Too much hung on them not failing. </p><p>… How had Riz known about the girl’s destructive capacity? Had she felt the girl, and made a guess at who she was talking about, Or was it something about her new wish? She supposed she would have to watch or wait until Riz told her.</p><p>She wouldn’t blame the girl for not telling her though.</p><p>---</p><p>When Homura got home, Lapin quickly ran over and started talking rapidly while grabbing her hand and pulling her in, going on tangent after tangent about how fun the video games were, even if the other Homura often had to tell her what was going on because she couldn’t read. The other was just watching them quietly, staring intensely. But she didn’t seem irritated.</p><p>“Would you mind teaching her how to speak Japanese while I go cook some food for us?” After a short nod, and prying off Lapin, <em> Was it just her, or was Lapin even clingier than she had been before? </em> she began making more soup. Lapin loudly complained until she called out that Corbeau’s reincarnation wouldn’t understand her if she didn’t learn. That drove the girl to working so hard that by the time she was finished Lapin honestly seemed a little disappointed. She’d have to get the girl some materials later, or one of them would likely be constantly being bugged to teach her.</p><p>But that could wait. The other her, however, could not. As soon as the food was finished, she walked over and told Lapin they would be busy for a bit. Putting her soul gem on her finger.</p><p>The immediate sensation of a hundred, confused voices washed over her, giving her a headache in seconds. It took her mentally yelling to calm them back down a bit, which allowed her to assess what was going on exactly, and gave her a moment to put her old body in stasis. Notably there appeared to be something of a ‘leader’ for now, one of the ones who fully remembered being Riz and had been fast in reacting to their new situation. While there was also a couple who didn’t remember being Riz to some degree, and one who didn’t period.</p><p>She mentally sighed, and quickly got all of them up to speed, on the current situation, and on the current incarnation of Tart and the rest of her old friends. As well as the time travel. That seemed to send a lot of them into an existential crisis, but also made many of them resolute, to an extant. Most of them wanted to take some time to figure out who they were now. Use what little time they had to come to terms with all the new memories.</p><p>She gave a mental nod before pulling her old body out of stasis and taking control of it again.</p><p>She had work to do after all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p><br/>Credit to Sonocomics for this awesome piece of commissioned art.<br/>https://sonocomics.tumblr.com/</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Larger and Larger Messes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Homura has another, somehow more confusing meeting with Oriko.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>beta'd by Potato</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Homura woke up, she had ended up taking a couch while her other self took the bed. Before she had been able to say anything, Lapin had latched onto her. She was concerned, but didn’t say anything. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know how attached Lapin was to her, and more notably her old body.</p><p>So now she had an ancient but small girl wrapped around her as she looked up at the ceiling. She sighed, but decided to not do anything about it yet. She could let the girl sleep for now. Instead, she brought out her phone, and took a moment to message Mikuni for… clarification.</p><p>Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Mikuni to message her back, quickly sending her all sorts of info she had gathered on the nearby area and the magical girls within it. Homura almost shivered, wondering how long Mikuni had been contracted before she entered the timeline to have gathered all this information. That was at least relative proof that the girl wasn’t lying. Everything pointed to the girl knowing about and having been able to assassinate Madoka for a while. But instead she waited for a wildcard she couldn’t predict to show up, one she knew would likely be opposed to her.</p><p>Homura couldn’t decide if Mikuni was beyond arrogant, a master manipulator, or just actually telling the truth. But she kept a close eye on all the info coming in, even as she took it with a grain of salt. As she thought though… one thing had stuck out.</p><p>Kirika almost seemed less intense, and possibly even outright unhinged then normal. At least compared to the timelines where she fought against them, or met them in any capacity. Like she was less broken. It caused Homura to remember how magical girls had been going missing, likely dying from Mikuni’s intervention, or more accurately, Kure’s. The murder likely being the reason for the girl’s relatively broken state.</p><p>… Which was more signs indicating that Mikuni could possibly be trusted in this timeline. She hated it, but she was running out of options. Even if the girl lied about not being able to see her future, there should be no reasonable way she knew that much about her without also reincarnating.</p><p>Thankfully, as Lapin started waking up, and the conversation reached its end, Homura made her decision. She sent one last text, and got a final reply quickly. There were many things she could do, but she knew both Madoka and Tart would want her to work with others. Not to mention, the consequences could be steep if she didn’t get this out of the way quick. If nothing else, she could keep <em> that </em> bit of info as a trump card to keep Mikuni in line.</p><p>After a quick breakfast, the other her joined them before being quickly taken by Lapin afterwards for Japanese practice. While Homura went out for the morning, and made sure Madoka got to school without contracting, stopping time and moving Amy out of the way when she saw the cat. Then heading back quickly.</p><p>When she did, the other her back to resting in an attempt to process and figure themselves out. Before Lapin could try and pester the girl for more Japanese lessons, Homura grabbed the girl's shoulder. Unlike the times before though, Homura watched slightly unnerved when after a small surprised flinch, the girl mostly leaned into her hand.</p><p>… Ok, she needed to find out if she could get an extra copy of her own body. Because not only would she prefer showing as little of her hand as possible to the Incubator while still remaining combat effective, it was also  obvious that while Lapin still held some fear of her, it was being buried at what was likely an unhealthy pace by the need to attach herself to the closest person at hand. Even if that person was the one who originally put her there, and especially if that person was inhabiting the body of what had likely been the closest thing to a comfort object in that void.</p><p>So this was… definitely for the best. After pulling out some covering clothes, the main piece being reminiscent of her old cloak, she had Lapin covered quickly. The girl looked at her questioningly, but seemed to accept her simple explanation of, “We will be going to meet someone today. Someone who will be helping us.” Lapin nodding along to her response like she was only mildly curious.</p><p>When Homura was done making sure the standard barrier around her home was enough to keep out any familiars or curious Incubators that came around, they headed off in the direction of Mikuni’s mansion. They mostly used rooftop travel, bouncing from building to building above the sprawling city, causing Lapin to marvel in awe at everything from above as they got closer to their destination. Getting there sooner than Homura really would have liked, but there was nothing she could really do about it now.</p><p>They headed inside, Kure giving them a smile and quickly bringing them to a new room where Mikuni was waiting with tea. After sitting down and immediately asking for a barrier, the girl in front of her granting the request in a heartbeat, Homura wondered how to start this. She wasn’t the best at social interactions, but she knew that this was going to be messy no matter what. So… start with something more productive. “So, besides keeping Madoka uncontracted, what plans do you think should be prioritized for the near future?” Might as well attempt to listen, even if she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.</p><p>After a sip of her tea, Mikuni replied. “I will admit, the girls I believe to be the most helpful to team up with are the Pleiades Saints, a team of seven odd but powerful magical girls in the nearby city of Asunaru. I don’t have all the info on them, but I am pretty sure they put up a barrier that makes it impossible to see or remember Kyubey in their city. Not to mention that they seem to be trying to overthrow the witch system. However, they mostly seal other magical girls away right now, and are unlikely to listen to other magical girls without something in it for them. Due to how varied and dangerous their powers are, they are a considerable threat.” Homura remembered the report on their powersets from earlier, and nodded. “Not to mention while I know someone is interfering with them, I can’t be sure of their magic. I’m not even entirely sure of her goals, but if you can, find her and take her out.” She brought out a picture to show Homura anyways. “Even if you were to take in this girl, who is a clone to one of the members,” That caused Homura to almost spit out her tea for a moment, but managed to keep it in. “There just isn’t much we can use as a bargaining ship with them…” Mikuni finally finished.</p><p>Homura leaned back a moment. But decided now was probably the time. Her new allies hadn’t batted an eye, or even attempted to question her about her, likely a very confused and very clingy visitor. Lapin hadn’t let go of her left arm since she sat down to do more than eat some snacks. “Well, I believe I have a bargaining chip.” she said, a look of slight confusion but immense relief appearing on Mikuni’s face. It made her feel a little uncomfortable, but she continued in French. “Lapin, you can take off your hood now.” She saw Mikuni jump at the name, even as she seemed to take a moment to process the rest of the sentence.</p><p>Then the hood came off, and Mikuni was driven completely speechless. Staring at her past sister. After a few moments, Lapin started to fidget uncomfortably, likely not used to being stared at. Before Homura could say anything though, tears ran down Mikuni’s cheeks as she bowed deeply, and said in french. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry for being such a horrible sister Lapin.”</p><p>Lapin just looked more unnerved, which was understandable, Homura was feeling the same. “I suppose I should tell you, I found Minou.” The tears in the girls eyes were immediate, as she almost rushed around the table, hugging her sister as her sister kept apologizing. Homura honestly felt a little bad for Kure, who was <span>standing awkwardly off to one side with no idea what was going on</span>.</p><p>Before she could say anything, Lapin was saying all sorts of encouraging things in an attempt to make her sister stop crying, all failing. Homura realized with sharp certainty that she’d either been played and she would soon have one more enemy, or this was the truth. A broken, desperate girl who wanted to atone. Then Lapin said. “Homura even said she found Corbeau’s reincarnation! So we can go find her and all be a family again!” She winced at all the info just released, especially at how Mikuni froze at it. </p><p>Yet, before she could attempt to put out this dumpster fire, things got complicated. “I don’t deserve to have either of you with me…” Mikuni responded.</p><p>“Of course you do, we’re your sisters-” Before Lapin could finish that thought, Mikuni continued.</p><p>“No… I mean I don’t deserve it after I killed Corbeau myself and used you as a tool.” … Homura could almost feel her jaw drop, but clamped it shut before anyone noticed. She watched Lapin’s face go disturbingly blank as she looked directly at her sister.</p><p>“No… No you never would have done that! I’m sure of it!” The silence from Mikuni seemed to unnerve Lapin further. “... Right? You have to tell me if you’re lying… I’m the oldest sister after all…” Homura almost jumped at that odd tidbit, but decided she didn’t want to know right now. Lapin visibly got more upset every second, trying her best to get a denial that just wasn’t coming. Her face became more and more twisted by desperation with every attempt. Then the girl broke down crying next to Mikuni.</p><p>Homura walked over slowly, picking up the small girl and drawing her close as she prepared to go back home for now. Before she could though, she heard one last whispered, “I’m sorry.” from the girl behind her. She wasn’t sure whether it was to her or Lapin, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. So she just left for now, Lapin not moving a muscle in resistance as she did.</p><p>… This was definitely proof of one thing though. Homura had been planning to use Minou’s murder of Corbeau as a trump card now that Lapin visibly trusted her more to attempt and turn them against each other in case of betrayal. Yet… Mikuni had freely given up that information.</p><p>… Homura was starting to actually believe the girl now. She’d shot herself in the foot too many times to be anything but sincere.</p><p>This probably wouldn’t be good for the probably unhealthy attachment issues Lapin was getting to her though. Which was one of the handful of reasons she’d brought the girl in the first place.</p><p>Why could her life not just be simple for once?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Tell me if you think somethings ooc or whatever, thanks for reading!</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Unexplored Possibilities</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Homura meets the Pleiades in her rush to prepare for Walpurgisnacht</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Beta'd by Potato.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lapin couldn’t hear anything past the ringing in her ears. Everything felt so <em> cold </em> she could barely feel herself being lifted up and carried off by Homura. She didn’t even try to resist, latching onto her and her <em> warmth </em> as tightly as possible. She didn’t even know what to think at this point. Minou had killed Corbeau, and had admitted to using her. Not caring about her. Apologizing for being a terrible sister. She’d fought against Riz, and been thrown in fucking <b>Hell</b> for so long time had practically lost all meaning. She’d practically fallen into a state halfway between a coma and occasionally becoming a witch, being driven deeper and deeper into the darkness and the cold, everything slowly becoming more and more muddled. Including her memories.</p><p>Back then, during the war, she’d ignored it. Disregarded what Riz was telling her. She’d thought they’d killed her sister, and she was willing to do anything to get revenge. Willing to witchify, and fight until her enemies had been <em> ground to dust and burnt to ash. </em> Her <em> burning </em> hatred had flowed through every fiber of her being, and then-</p><p>She shivered as she thought about the darkness. The hellish, shadowy, <em> empty </em> place she’d been left, the ever present <em> chill </em> that seeped into her bones and her soul numbing her very will. her enemy's quickly <em> cooling </em> body without a soul gem and seemingly dead so she couldn’t even truly get revenge. Not that that had stopped her from releasing some frustration on the body at first.</p><p>The problem was though… it was the only other thing there. That, and her powers. While at first she had been expecting a rescue… none had come. Minou hadn’t come to save her. After a while, she became thankful for whatever natural properties kept Riz’s body from decomposing as she healed it as best she could. At first it was mostly so she could attack it again and again. With her magic, it wasn’t like she would ever run out after all. So she could tear apart and reconstruct the body as much as she wanted.</p><p>But the longer she stayed there… the longer she went between episodes of tearing it apart. It was the only other thing there, her clothes slowly being worn out, and the only other thing she could do was create her weapons. Her cold, hard weapons. So slowly… she’d ended up just leaving it floating, touching it, and watching it. Most of her animosity was already gone, or at least was covered by her need for companionship.</p><p>After a while, she just outright began hugging it. Not even caring that it was her former enemies body anymore. She just needed <em> something </em> to hold on to. Anything, even if it was the definition of <em> cold </em> comfort. Even if the only <em> warmth </em> from it was from her own body.</p><p>When she had finally been allowed <b>out</b> , she had gotten her first glimpse of light other than her soul gem or magic in… a very long time. The sun's rays had burned her eyes, but she hadn’t cared. Feeling the bone deep <em> warmth </em> that came with the sun.</p><p>She had cared about Riz though, as the girl had evidently been the one to release her from the <em> cold </em> even if she looked slightly different. She had practically forgotten the girl's body, even if it had been the only other thing she’d been able to interact with for a very long time. One of the few things she could remember clearly, her magic’s faint glow from always keeping the body in good condition letting her see it’s details.</p><p>She couldn’t even remember what Corbeau looked like, and suspected her magic was the only reason she had even remembered how to speak French.</p><p>She didn't move or speak a word, ears ringing and phantom chills reverberating in her bones, at least until dinner. Where she had to be nudged a few times before she finally began eating. Huh. She hadn’t thought she would need provocation to eat food again. She hadn’t exactly been the pickiest even at first, let alone after the void… but she could barely get the food down. She could barely think.</p><p>She soon found herself dropped onto bed between both Homura's and a blanket was thrown over them. The combined <em> warmth </em> anchoring her, just a little. </p><p>The <em> warmth </em> more than anything, calmed her down. It had been so <em> cold </em> , the <em> chill </em> of the eternal slowly seeping into even her soul gem. She wasn’t there anymore though. This <em> warmth </em> proved it</p><p>She still couldn’t believe it though. Couldn’t believe that her sister killed her other sister… they were supposed to be a family. Yet her sister had…</p><p>Riz and Tart had tried to tell her, back then. She’d disregarded it. Fully believing her only family left without a thought. She almost wished it was a mistake, but when she’d been so close, when she’d been feeling the girl with her magic. She’d recognized it. Even if it had changed. In her heart she knew it was Oriko.</p><p>She shivered as the girl in front of her moved slightly.</p><p>"... Lapin, would you be up for a trip tomorrow?" The Homura that let her out asked. </p><p>She almost stopped breathing, barely kept from doing so by the <em> warmth </em> around her. Panic and <em> cold </em> was seeping into her though. "W-why?" She asked, hoping it had nothing to do with Minou’s reincarnation. She… couldn’t talk to her right now. Didn't even want to be in the same room as her.</p><p>"A trip to another city to contact a group of magical girls. I mostly just need you to use your power in front of them when I say to, is that alright?"</p><p>Lapin breathed a sigh of relief. It had nothing to do with her sister. She was safe. Protected by Homura. The girl who had promised to help her find her other sister, while feeding and clothing her. Even as sometimes things were <b>just too much</b>.</p><p>When did the world become so <b>wrong</b><em>? </em> Her enemies were helping her, and her family had betrayed her.</p><p>… As tears slowly ran down her face, She nodded, the <em> warmth </em> slowly comforting her, and driving her to sleep. Exhaustion from this horrible, horrible day catching up with her. Even if it hadn’t been a long one.</p><p>---</p><p>After getting up and eating breakfast, Homura covered Lapin again, as well as herself. Then began heading to Asunaro after hesitantly asking Mikuni to keep an eye on Madoka. She didn’t want to, but she didn’t think the girl was lying. Every time she had met and fought them though, it had always been obvious what their goals were. They had been manipulative, but never really lied. On the other hand though, anomalous timelines were always a problem. It threw her variables into chaos, and made it so she couldn’t be entirely sure of anything.</p><p>Then Mikuni sent her a link, and she found herself looking at a livestream from Kirika, presumably using a hidden camera, as she went to Mitakihara middle school. Attending it grumpily.</p><p>… Oriko didn’t even seem to know Madoka was actually important to her, or that she was Tart’s reincarnation. Yet she still sent this to prove she was relatively trustworthy. Trying to show she wasn’t a threat. She kept an eye on it as they walked, Lapin was shocked when she saw. Then curious about it. Asking how about how it worked. By the time they used a train to head into Asunaro though, the girl was still curious, and she still wasn’t quite done with that conversation, but she had to reprioritize.</p><p>“Lapin, I will be doing something, and it will get a lot quieter. Will you be ok?” If Kanna Hijiri was looking to take down a team of seven magical girls, then she likely had a form of magic that made her a threat. Likely a more subtle, but immensely dangerously effective form of magic. Possibly mind control, or something equally insidious. Although if the Pleiades were anything like her own friends, they might also be fragile. So it was hard to say how dangerous the unknown clone was.</p><p>So she would need to investigate in stopped time. Thankfully she had a few spare grief seeds to give to Juubey, but it was still irritating to use so much magic for this. Even if her magic was efficient, interacting with Juubey was aggravating by default. Dealing with another Oriko before she could cause problems was more important than her comfort. On the other hand though, she didn’t know enough about what was going on in this area to be anything but extremely cautious. She couldn’t let herself die, or sacrifice herself like she had done in her past life. Madoka couldn’t defend herself, and Homura didn’t want her to need to. She’d promised to keep her from contracting, and she would fulfill it no matter what. Even if she had to trust Lapin with the knowledge of her magic.</p><p>Lapin though seemed to be shivering slightly. So she continued. “If it would help, I could carry you on my back while the magic is active?” That seemed to get the girls attention. Causing her to breathe in for a moment, before nodding. Homura turned around, and let Lapin climb on her back. She quickly transformed, then stopped time. Causing color and sound to leech away. She felt Lapin squeeze her tighter, and after a few moments bury her head into Homura’s back. She internally sighed, not a great sign for those attachment issues. Not that she was expecting much after… Oriko.</p><p>She quickly began jumping between rooftops, feeling out for magical girls as she did so, while avoiding the two groups. She could guess they were the Pleiades, which left other magical girls of the area. She slowly explored, taking a look at single magical girls over and over until-</p><p>She found her target. The girl was concerningly close to one of the two groups, keeping her magic relatively weak and watching from a distance with a twisted smile on her face. Homura didn’t bother dropping the stop, pulling a taser from her shield and using it on the girl. Causing her to convulse rapidly, and leaving her vulnerable as Homura grabbed the girls ring off her finger and shoved it into the shield, deactivating the taser as she did so. Lapin watched shocked from her back as the body fell halfway to the ground and then stopped.</p><p>Which left her with just a few things to do. Her eyes flashed gold as she sent the body into the shadows, and then wrote a note while she walked towards the group. A black haired girl that felt slightly off, a blue haired girl with glasses, and an orange haired girl. The latter two were listed as Umika Misaki and Kaoru Maki in Oriko’s notes. While “Michiru Kazusa(?)” was covered in question marks. Something about her making it hard to get concrete details. Putting the finished note on the ground, and raising a rock she picked up above it before letting the rock fall again, its momentum stopping about halfway to the ground.</p><p>That should attract their attention, and the notes message of, “Find a labyrinth with the rest of the Pleiades and enter it. I have the key to what you want so badly. Make sure no one else enters the labyrinth. Even Juubey.” would hopefully be enough. She quickly got out of the area, and grabbed some more food for Lapin when she unstopped time. Keeping careful track of the two groups as they slowly converged. By which time they were done eating. Causing them to walk together until they felt the girls magic flare in the way that meant one thing. They had transformed.</p><p>Homura immediately did the same, and stopped time. Crouching down and letting Lapin climb onto her back again. On the way there, her soul gem got rather dark, purifying with Juubey was going to be necessary after this, but depending on how this went it would be worth it. Seven magical girls on her side, nine with Oriko and Kirika, ten with Lapin. Depending on how things went with the Saints in the short term, she might even be able to get Kyoko on her side easily, as well as possibly Mami. It was hard to say how Mami would react if the Pleiades managed to figure out a way to evade the fate of magical girls.</p><p>Ten to twelve with just the likely ones she currently knew about, and was working on. Not even mentioning a handful of magical girls and contractee’s that were in the rough area.</p><p>That was a formidable amount of firepower. Hopefully enough. That was enough magic that it should be a guaranteed win.</p><p>Then she caught sight of the group, right outside of a labyrinth and about to head in. Juubey sitting nearby and watching, black body firmly rooted on the ground while the rest of the Pleiades stood around in various magical girl outfits, ‘Michiru’s’ in particular being odd. Not that the rest weren’t. Not to mention the new four magical girls. The white haired Saki Asami, pinked haired Mirai Wakaba, brown haired Satomi Usagi, and blonde Niko Kanna.</p><p>She ignored them though. Heading into the labyrinth and after gaining some distance, turning around and unstopping time. Quickly putting down Lapin. As she did so, she felt a barrier go up outside, keeping others out, and theoretically, them in.</p><p>This was probably going to take a while.</p><p>---</p><p>Kazumi hadn’t quite been expecting so many things to happen today. Her friends had introduced her to the rest of the Pleiades. The rest of her friends she didn’t remember. As well as Juubey. All because of some odd note. She was confused, but followed them as they hunted for a witch. Looking for a labyrinth, and to fulfill the odd notes instruction. She wondered what they meant by “The key to what they want so badly.” Was it the key to her memories?</p><p>Probably not? Otherwise whoever it was would have probably needed to take her memories in the first place, but her friends were being oddly evasive and on guard. It was concerning. Were they hiding something from her? Hmm… she hoped not, but whatever this was would probably be explained soon anyways. At least if the note was  true.</p><p>Then they did find a labyrinth, the tear in reality appearing in front of them, causing Saki to go “Transform everyone, we will need to be ready for whoever sent us the message.” Kazumi did, feeling her power flowing outward and covering her in her magical girl outfit as her allies did the same. She smiled as she looked at her friends' outfits, happy to be with them- “What the!?” She turned her head towards Saki, who looked shocked for a moment before switching back to a more stoic expression. "If… if i felt that right, there is now at least one magical girl in the labyrinth… I could have sworn there weren’t any though, so given the contents of the note they likely have teleportation or another extremely fast movement option to bypass us… Put up a barrier Umika. Worst comes to worst it will keep Juubey and others out like the note asked.” Kazumi tilted her head as Umika put up the barrier, watching curiously as it covered them and the tear, but Juubey stayed right outside the barrier. Waving one of his… scarf parts?</p><p>Huh, he was a pretty weird fairy thing(?). She shrugged it off though as they all headed in, and quickly found herself following her friends a little deeper, nothing hostile appearing yet, but they quickly found themselves facing down a magical girl, and what seemed to be another maybe? The smaller one was covered in a cloak and some thicker clothes, making it hard to see anything but some pink hair. Whereas the magical girl had long black hair similarly to what she had before she had her hair cut, and purple eyes. As well as a buckler on her left arm.</p><p>“You look cool! I’m Kazumi, who are you?” The girl looked startled for a moment, before shaking her head. While her friends looked exasperated.</p><p>“I am Homura Akemi, and I apologize for the sudden contact without advance warning, but I needed to meet with all of you to go over some important information, and hopefully gain an alliance.” Saki narrowed her eyes.</p><p>“What kind of information exactly?” Their leader asked.</p><p>“Firstly, There was a plot to kill you all from Niko’s clone.” The rest of the saints looked shocked, while Kazumi was just confused. What was she talking about? “I do not know her abilities, or why she was looking to destroy you. But I am willing to leave her  in your hands provided you are cautious. It’s likely her magic makes her a major threat in some insidious and subtle way. Unless you think a clone of Niko would do something like that with brute force.”</p><p>Even Kazumi could read the looks the saints sent each other. They didn’t think Niko would do something that reckless. Not even a clone of her.</p><p>“We would appreciate being able to take her into our custody for now.” Saki politely demanded. Leading them all to hear a click, then suddenly a body was on the ground in front of them, as was the girl's soul gem. Seemingly confirming the theory that she has some way to move herself and other things fast. The rest of the Pleiades seemed… oddly comfortable with quickly putting the body and soul gem in containers or to the side. It was kinda concerning.</p><p>Then Homura continued. “With that done, I feel it would be more simple to show the next part.” Then she began speaking… another language to her friend. It sounded kind of familiar… then one of the other girls asked, “Hey, isn’t that French or something?” before a response could come though, the smaller girl transformed, and gained an odd pink costume to match her pink hair and now visible pink eyes. Before they could say anything though, the girl turned, and quickly began running deeper. Summoning several floating things with holes in the middle and bunny ears on the top.</p><p>Homura quickly began following the girl at a distance, while they did as well. She wanted to get up close and help as the girl started blasting the labyrinths occupants, but her friends held her back. They were cautiously watching the black haired girl as she went forward. Even though she dropped her buckler on the ground a while ago. Her friends just whispered to her that since she could resummon it, that it was an empty gesture.</p><p>Then they were getting close to the witch, the girl in front of them using more and more magic to carve through- Just as they reached the inner chamber, Saki’s eyes widened, and she yelled out, “WAIT, STOP!” She quickly realized why, the girl's soul gem was already nearly black, and walking into a witch's nest with nearly no magic can’t be a good idea. Saki attempted to zoom forward, lightning flashing for the briefest moment. Right before Lapin fired one more attack, and her soul gem went completely dark.</p><p>Then all hell broke loose as the girl turned into a witch, and all their weapons disappeared.</p><p>What?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>seriously though, potato's help was extremely valuable due to some difficulties with me being an idiot and writing two versions of the first part of the chapter because i forgot the first part existed.</p>
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